Santorum: Iran deal a ‘folly’

Former Sen. Rick Santorum panned the burgeoning Iran nuclear deal as a “folly” as rumors continue to swirl that an agreement could be nearing completion.

“It’s a folly, the idea of negotiating with a government that continues to call for death to America, death to Israel,” he said Monday night on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

{mosads}“Iran has never lived up to any of its treaty obligations. Why do we believe now that they are going to all of a sudden change.”

Santorum (R-Penn.), a GOP presidential hopeful, said he wouldn’t give the Obama administration the benefit of the doubt on the deal that’s being ironed out with a group of international negotiators in Austria. The Associated Press reported Monday that an agreement could be announced as early as overnight, but no participating government has publicly confirmed those rumors.

He said that the deal’s terms are moot because the Iranians won’t “adhere to any of it,” and that he doesn’t believe the administration’s assertions that international sanctions would return if Iran violates the terms.

“No one credibly believes that we will be able to snap back any sanctions once this deal is signed because it will then be an argument of interpretation. The United States will say they are not doing this, Iran will say ‘Yes we are,’ ” he said.

“Meanwhile the money is flowing back into Iran, they can better constitute their program, they can better fund terrorism, and they are off to the races on continuing to be a bad actor.”

GOP presidential candidates have repeatedly warned against the Iran deal that’s been pushed by President Obama as an important way to check Iran’s nuclear power through diplomacy. But Republican politicians have repeatedly warned it would threaten Israel and lead to instability in the Middle East.